BY CHRISTIAN HILL, THE REGISTER-GUARD

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

The decision means customers will have to contact EWEB and specifically direct that the meter attached to their home or business not transmit their electric and water usage data. Currently, meter readers visit customers’ properties monthly and take down that information.

Under the old “opt in” policy adopted in 2013, when commissioners authorized the smart meter project, customers had to specifically request that EWEB authorize the meter to transmit that data.

But the change won’t happen overnight.

Commissioners still need to approve the specific rule and the procedures that utility employees would follow under the new policy. General Manager Frank Lawson will bring back draft rules for commissioners’ review in March or April.

The decision came after commissioners heard testimony from more than a dozen residents — a majority of whom opposed the change because of health and privacy concerns — and asked numerous questions of Lawson and two other employees involved in the project.

During the questioning, Lawson reassured commissioners that EWEB would give customers advance notice of a meter installation, explain the purpose of the project, and spell out clearly that they have the option to either opt in or opt out.

The general manager said that EWEB would not charge customers who decide to opt out, at least for the next several years.

“EWEB is implementing this technology in a responsible way,” he said.

The decision comes as the utility will be ramping up its installation of the devices during the next eight years. EWEB has spent millions of dollars on the project that commissioners authorized more than four years ago.

EWEB has installed about 4,000 of the meters since last year, with two-thirds of those customers giving their approval for the devices to transmit water and electric use data to the utility for billing.

With the utility slated to install more than 150,000 of the meters in the next eight years, Lawson told commissioners that the slow deployment of the technology under the opt-in policy is “incredibly inefficient” and keeps the community from realizing the system’s full benefits while costing more.

Part of the problem with an opt-in policy is that while there’s a percentage of residents strongly for or against smart meters, most people fall in middle, and it can be difficult to get them to respond, Lawson said.

EWEB estimated that a continued opt-in policy would cost $600,000 more a year during the eight-year installation period compared with the alternative because of increased labor costs.

The systemwide benefits include faster power restoration after a large-scale outage, reduction in carbon emissions and improving billing accuracy and utility operations.

During public testimony, residents shared their concerns about the risks that meters pose to human health, personal privacy and local jobs.

The meters transit radio waves, a form of electromagnetic radiation, that might harm human health.

Eugene resident Bill Evans said he worried that EWEB was putting cost savings over human health with the policy shift. He noted that there hasn’t been a lot of funding put toward the research of the health effects of radio waves emitted by smartphones and smart meters.

“If we save a lot of dollars one way or another and we’re not as healthy, what’s the point?” he asked.

Eugene resident Lisa Arkin said the millions of dollars that EWEB has spent on the project so far — which will lead to meter readers losing their jobs — could be better used on job creation.

“As a public utility, you owe it to the community to create jobs, not lose jobs,” she said.

Darlene Kelly, the director of property management for Homes for Good Housing Agency, a local provider of low-­income housing, supported the policy shift. She said the meters will alert the agency more quickly to power outages, electrical problems and water leaks.

Eugene resident Matt McRae, a climate policy analyst by profession, said smart meters are key to the community’s effort to cut carbon emissions as meter readers no longer would have to drive all over the city.

“The sooner we can do that, the better,” he said.

Commissioners said that they appreciated the residents’ input and involvement but expressed skepticism that smart meters pose a health risk, given the amount of radio waves people are exposed to daily in today’s society.

Commissioner Dick Helgeson said he has reviewed the information and research and hasn’t dismissed health concerns out of hand.

“I have given thoughtful consideration and disagree with some of the conclusions,” he said.

Commissioner Sonya Carlson said the faster power restoration that smart meters afford can prevent harm, because linesmen would spend less time out in dangerous conditions restoring power, and residents would spend less time in their cold homes trying to stay warm.

Portland General Electric billing live using Itron’s fixed network in Murray Hills area of Portland

Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI), a leading provider of automatic meter reading (AMR) services and equipment to the utility industry, today announced that they have successfully achieved and passed the acceptance criteria required by Portland General Electric (PGE) for PGE’s pilot installation of Itron’s Fixed Network AMR system in Murray Hills, Ore.

PGE, a wholly owned subsidiary of Portland General Corp. (NYSE:PGN), supplies electricity to more than 630,000 customers in Northwest Oregon.

Murray Hills was selected for the pilot as it represents one of the more difficult environments for radio communications in the Portland area. Underground power lines and short decorative street lights in the area present a challenge in terms of finding places to install the key components for the network. In addition, the homes and lot sizes are larger than average and there is a great deal of foliage.

“Completion of the fixed network acceptance test at PGE is a significant milestone for Itron because we have proven that our Fixed Network AMR system works in the field under very difficult radio communications environments,” said Johnny Humphreys, Itron president and CEO.

“The fixed network technology is maturing rapidly and we have demonstrated the capability to reliably acquire reads for monthly billing over the network,” said David Carboneau, Portland General Corp. vice president of Information Technology. “With continuing improvement in functionality, we anticipate further successful deployment of Itron’s Fixed Network AMR system.”

Headquartered in Spokane, Itron serves over 1,300 customers in more than 40 countries. With engineering, design, and manufacturing facilities in several U.S. locations and subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, and Australia, Itron is one of the leading suppliers of energy information, communications and management solutions to electric, gas and water utilities worldwide. For the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 1996, Itron earned $3.8 million on revenues of $179 million.

Sworn Declaration of Dr. David O. Carpenter, M.D., Director, Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany and Professor of Environmental Health Sciences within the School of Public Health. Formerly Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Albany and Director of the Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research of the New York State Department of Health. United States District Court – District of Oregon – Portland Division – June 2011:

“Exposure to EMF has been linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes. The health endpoints that have been reported to be associated with ELF and/or RF include childhood leukemia, adult brain tumors, childhood brain tumors, genotoxic effects (DNA damage and micronucleation), neurological effects and neurodegenerative disease (like ALS and Alzheimer’s), immune system disregulation, allergic and inflammatory responses, breast cancer in men and women, miscarriage and some cardiovascular effects. The strongest evidence for adverse health effects of EMFs comes from associations observed in human populations with two forms of cancer: childhood leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia in occupationally exposed adults.

“There is suggestive to strongly suggestive evidence that RF exposures may cause changes in cell membrane function, cell communication, metabolism, activation of protooncogenes, and can trigger the production of stress proteins at exposure levels below current regulatory limits. Resulting effects can include DNA breaks and chromosome aberrations, cell death including death of brain neurons, increased free radical production, activation of the endogenous opioid system, cell stress and premature aging, changes in brain function including memory loss, retarded learning, performance impairment in children, headaches and fatigue, sleep disorders, neurodegenerative conditions, changes in immune function (allergic and inflammatory responses), reduction in melatonin secretion and cancers.”

Same Lawsuit; Portland Public Schools; Sworn Amended Declaration of Curtis Bennett, an expert witness for the Canadian Parliament on the dangers of Wi-Fi and Smart Meter Frequencies:

“Governments and taxpayers are funding health costs, wireless technologies are contradicting those objectives.”

“Consumers may also have already increased their exposures to radiofrequency radiation in the home through the voluntary use of wireless devices (cell and cordless phones), PDAs like BlackBerry and iPhones, wireless routers for wireless internet access, wireless home security systems, wireless baby surveillance (baby monitors), and other emerging wireless applications. Neither the FCC, the CPUC, the utility nor the consumer know what portion of the allowable public safety limit is already being used up or pre-empted by RF from other sources already present in the particular location a smart meter may be installed and operated.

“Consumers, for whatever personal reason, choice or necessity who have already eliminated all possible wireless exposures from their property and lives, may now face excessively high RF exposures in their homes from smart meters on a 24-hour basis. People who are afforded special protection under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act are not sufficiently acknowledged nor protected. People who have medical and/or metal implants or other conditions rendering them vulnerable to health risks at lower levels than FCC RF limits may be particularly at risk (Tables 30-31). This is also likely to hold true for other subgroups, like children and people who are ill or taking medications, or are elderly, for they have different reactions to pulsed RF. Children’s’ tissues absorb RF differently and can absorb more RF than adults.

“Safety standards for peak exposure limits to radio frequency have not been developed to take into account the particular sensitivity of the eyes, testes and other ball shaped organs. There are no peak power limits defined for the eyes and testes, and it is not unreasonable to imagine situations where either of these organs comes into close contact with smart meters and/or collector meters, particularly where they are installed in multiples (on walls of multi-family dwellings that are accessible as common areas). In summary, no positive assertion of safety can be made by the FCC, nor relied upon by the CPUC, with respect to pulsed RF when exposures are chronic and occur in the general population. Indiscriminate exposure to environmentally ubiquitous pulsed RF from the rollout of millions of new RF sources (smart meters) will mean far greater general population exposures, and potential health consequences.”